Florida’s Nursing Home Reforms

The Sun Sentinel had a great article on new reforms to increase safety in Florida nursing homes. A dozen bills to reform nursing homes are under consideration in the Florida Legislature after 14 people died at a Hollywood, Florida, nursing home that lost power during Hurricane Irma. Many of the bills require nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have generators capable of powering air conditioning in the event of a power loss.

The latest give new teeth to Florida’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, which records show has regularly turned up fewer complaints each year under Gov. Rick Scott. The Ombudsman program, which is supposed to look out for residents in Florida’s 683 nursing homes and thousands of assisted living facilities, would be allowed to conduct undercover operations inside nursing homes, posing as patients or employees, to look for abuse and neglect.

With the new legislation, the Ombudsman office would be contracted out to a nonprofit entity rather than be a direct state agency, as it is now. It would report its findings to the Agency for Health Care Administration, which then could fine the facility between $5,000 and $25,000, depending on the seriousness of the violation.

The big boost to the state Ombudsman program is unique among the many bills. Another novel portion requires facilities to allow residents’ families to monitor them electronically as a safeguard against abuse.

The multitude of other bills includes:

SB 284: Filed by state Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, this bill requires nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have generators that can power air conditioning in the event of a loss of power, and requires the Agency for Health Care Administration to conduct an unannounced inspection at least every 15 months to check and make sure the generator is in working order. The bill requires facilities to have enough fuel to power generators for five days.

HB 479: Filed by state Rep. Patricia Williams, D-Lauderdale Lakes, this bill requires an unannounced inspection by AHCA every four months. It also requires nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have generators to power air conditioning and enough fuel to last for five days.

HB 327: Filed by state Rep. David Richardson, D-Miami Beach, this bill requires AHCA to carry out an announced inspection each May before hurricane season and requires facilities to have generators that can power air conditioning and enough fuel to last four days.

SB 372: Filed by state Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, this bill would require generators to power air conditioning and enough fuel for four days. It also requires AHCA to carry out an announced inspection in May before the start of hurricane season. Additionally, it requires the Public Service Commission to ensure that utility companies treat nursing homes and assisted living facilities with at least 50 residents that offer critical medical care as high priorities, similar to hospitals.

HB 443: Filed by state Rep. Emily Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, requires nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have current contact information on file with both residents and the state Long-Term Care Ombudsman. It also mandates that residents be allowed to access personal records on file at the facility.

SB 830: Filed by Farmer, this bill is identical to HB 443.

SB 558: Filed by state Sen. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami, this bill requires all health care facilities that provide overnight care — including nursing homes and assisted living facilities — to have generators that can power air conditioning and enough fuel for four days. The generators must be able to maintain conditions throughout an entire facility.

HB 435: Filed by state Rep. Larry Lee, D-Port St. Lucie, this bill establishes a matching grant program, funded with $5 million every year through 2023, so that facilities buying generators can get a dollar-for-dollar matching grant from the state on a first-come, first-serve basis. The grant is open to both public and private facilities.

HB 437: Filed by Lee as well, this bill requires facilities to have generators and enough fuel for seven days.

HB 331: Filed by Slosberg, this bill adds new language to the state’s patients bill of rights, requiring facilities to send an explanation for any relocation in writing to both a resident and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.